The Mother Teresa Museum Museum's New Campus Home

Mother Teresa of Calcutta went home to God over 20 years ago. Her thousands of Missionaries of Charity sisters, brothers and priests (MC’s) continue her work among the poorest of the poor throughout the world. But outside of her religious order, who is honoring her legacy and creating new generations of devotees of this great saint?

Mother Teresa Museum ribbon cutting ceremony: Thomas & Selby Prince, Craig & Pat Jilk, Michael Timmis, Sisters of Missionaries of Charity, President Jim Towey, Jennifer Nodes, Thomas Monaghan, Rhodora Donahue

It should come as no surprise that a small, humble and hidden Catholic college – Ave Maria University – is leading the way. This year the Mother Teresa Museum was officially opened with an impressive ceremony presided over by President Jim Towey, a friend who provided legal counsel to St. Teresa of Calcutta during the last 12 years of her life. The ribbon-cutting ceremony concluded the last of the major dedications in the new Thomas and Selby Prince Building. In attendance were Rhodora Donahue and other members of her family, the Princes, and Bernadette O’Bryan Luca—whose names are commemorated in the spacious new building. “No one in the Church is promoting devotion to Mother Teresa like Ave Maria University,” Towey said at the dedication. “Sister Prema’s official permission in 2013 to undertake this project, the incredible generosity of AMU trustee Tricia Flatley and her family and Pat and Craid Jilk, along with the creativity of Jennifer Nodes, the Museum’s curator and head of library services, made this simple but stately Museum possible.” Following Towey’s remarks, Sr. Ajaya, Superior of the MC’s Miami soup kitchen and shelter, reminded the audience of Mother Teresa’s call to do “something beautiful for God through little acts of love.”

The 3,300 square foot Museum is designed to take the visitor on a path that recounts the life and work of Mother Teresa via thirty large storyboards which the MC’s created for English and Spanish-speaking visitors. Copies of hand-written letters of Mother Teresa, a piece of the actual threadbare sari Mother Teresa once wore, and other relics and artifacts are on display. The Museum also includes a study space for scholars, a contemplation space, a small theater for school groups to watch video on Mother’s life, and kiosks where visitors can learn about the Mother Teresa Project and hear stories of Mother Teresa as told by Sr. Prema, Sr. Dorothy (one of the first sisters to join the MC’s), and Sr. Tanya (who accompanied Mother Teresa when she met with Princess Diana), among others. Along the way, visitors can see a near perfect replication of Mother Teresa’s room - right down to the rough concrete floor (a detail remarked upon by Sister Prema when she visited).

The 3,300 square foot Museum is designed to take the visitor on a path that recounts the life and work of Mother Teresa.

It also confirms the increasingly close ties between the University and the Archdiocese of Calcutta. In 2017, the first recipient of an AMU scholarship for students from Calcutta, Christopher Das, matriculated at AMU (see related article). In May, President Towey and eleven Ave students will travel to Calcutta for the sixth straight year to work alongside the MC’s, and deliver the fifth installment of an annual donation of $5,000 by the University to the Archdiocese to install solar panels to allow students in youth hostels near Calcutta to study in the evening.

“Whether through volunteer projects in the nearby farmworker community of Immokalee, or in faraway places like Uganda, or on a casual stroll through the new Museum, Ave Maria University students are getting to know Mother Teresa of Calcutta and following in her footsteps,” said Kimberly King, Vice President for Student Affairs, who will be accompanying this year’s Calcutta missionaries.

Jennifer Nodes and Jacinta Hogan with Vice President Mike Pence

Mother Teresa’s Successor Makes Surprise Visit

In January, the University received a surprise visit from Sister Prema, the Superior General of the Missionaries of Charity, the religious order Mother Teresa established during her lifetime. Sr. Prema, accompanied by Sr. Immacula, the MC regional superior, was passing through Miami after visiting the MC homes in Haiti. Having heard about her travel plans, President Towey prevailed upon Sr. Prema to visit Ave’s campus and new Mother Teresa Museum, taking advantage of the good fortune that Sr. Prema was in the United States precisely when the Museum was in its finishing stages. She would become its first official visitor!

After her tour in early Janaury, Sr. Prema spoke to an overflow gathering of AMU students assembled in the Museum theater. She reminded them of the great love Mother Teresa had for young people and how the “world needs happy families who are faithful to each other and forgiving despite all the struggles and difficulties they face.”

After her brief talk, Sr. Prema agreed to answer questions from students about her own life and how she found her vocation. She recounted how she was in her mid-20’s when she first met Mother Teresa during Mother’s visit to Germany. “A relationship with God requires quality time,” she said, “just like any relationship.” She emphasized how God is always there for us, and that it is we who need to “beg for the gift of faith, hope, and love…we need to open up and He will take the final step. He knows us and He searches for us.” She added that it was important also to cultivate joy which is at the heart of the Catholic faith. “Joy is a reality that is always present,” she told the students. “The world gives many reasons for sadness and depression, but God has enabled us to go beyond that,” she said. “Nothing and no one can take away the Christian joy of the Resurrection—only we can give it up.”

Asked to give a final message for AMU students before returning to Miami, Sr. Prema stressed how much they are loved by God, and how much He expects them to bring that love to those who live in darkness.

Without doubt Sr. Prema’s visit to Ave Maria brought much light – and joy!

Sister Prema, M.C. speaking to AMU students during her campus visit